Hasbro announced two senior appointments to its Executive Leadership Team:
Tim Kilpin will join as President, Toy, Licensing & Entertainment, effective April 24. He will report to CEO Chris Cocks and will oversee Hasbro’s multi-billion-dollar Consumer Products Group, with a focus on optimizing the value, relevance, and performance of the Company’s strategic franchise brands and IP.
Kilpin brings extensive experience in the consumer products industry. Tim joins Hasbro from PlayMonster Group LLC, where he most recently served as Executive Chairman since January 2023 and as CEO from January 2022. His background includes serving as leader of Activision Blizzard’s Consumer Products business, Chief Commercial Officer for Mattel, Inc., and as Executive Vice-President, Franchise Management at The Walt Disney Company, where he oversaw the creation and development of global cross-category franchise plans for Disney’s stable of content and characters.
Gina Goetter will join as Chief Financial Officer, effective May 18, following the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders. As strategic partner to Cocks, she will work alongside him and other senior leaders in executing the Company’s Blueprint 2.0, which includes a focus on fewer, bigger brands; gaming; digital; and the Company’s rapidly growing direct to consumer and licensing business, as well as delivering the Company’s Operational Excellence program and associated cost savings. She will also oversee Hasbro’s global business operations as part of her role. Goetter’s appointment follows the retirement of CFO Deborah Thomas, who will remain at the Company in an advisory role throughout the remainder of the year to ensure a smooth transition.
Goetter brings over 25 years of experience across finance and accounting, with a demonstrated track record in driving strong financial and operational results. She joins Hasbro from Harley-Davidson, where she has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2020, responsible for all aspects of Finance, Accounting, Treasury, Tax, Investor Relations, and Mergers & Acquisitions. Prior to her time at Harley-Davidson, Goetter was Senior Vice President of Finance for Tyson Foods’ Prepared Foods Segment, and also spent 21 years at General Mills in a number of increasingly senior Finance roles
World-building creative lab Impossible Objects has made Sarah James an Executive Producer, promoting her from senior producer, a role she has held since earlier this year.
James attended the University of Georgia for Film Production and Media Studies before beginning her career at Energy BBDO in Chicago; first as an intern, then working her way up to in-house producer. She later freelanced as an on-set producer before landing at Ethos Studio as a post producer. At Ethos, James’ first job was with Diablo/Google Play which served as her introduction to IO and her gateway into the virtual production landscape.
She post-produced a large campaign for Sprite Limelight, a global music experiment in partnership with iconic producer, singer, and songwriter James Blake, that aimed to shine a light on trailblazing artists from around the world. The massive project had more than 300 deliverables, including eight unique long-form films and their cutdowns. Other brand collaborations include 5 Gum, Forever 21, SC Johnson, Lululemon, and Spotify’s “Viva Latina” activation. In her short time with IO, she has worked with Diablo, Dell, Core Power, and Merrell, with a specialty for fulfilling entire campaigns versus single spots.
Cinesite has expanded its leadership team, naming Joel MacDonald as Supervising Producer for its animation division. The promotion comes as Cinesite continues to expand its global animation capacity by acquiring L’Atelier Animation, Assemblage & Squeeze Animation, in addition to its ongoing in-house full-service animation productions including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayham & Smurfs (Paramount Animation), Hitpig & Animal Farm (Aniventure), and co-creating the Iwájú series (Kugali/Walt Disney Animation Studios).
In his new role, under the direction of Global Head of Production Tamara Boutcher, MacDonald’s oversight will stretch across the global animation business managing multiple projects from beginning phases through completion and delivery. Joel will be working closely with existing and prospective clients, as well as with our own producers, VFX supervisors and their teams.
MacDonald, who joined Cinesite in 2016, has more than 15 years of experience in the animation industry. He has been involved in many feature films including Disney’s The Jungle Book, Rocket Pictures’ Gnomeo & Juliet and Tim Burton’s 9. During his tenure at Cinesite, MacDonald has been the producer on Aniventure’s Riverdance: The Animated Adventure, Warner Bros.’ Space Jam: A New Legacy and more recently on Iwájú.
Digital Domain has appointed visualization expert and studio veteran Matt McClurg as its new Head of Visualization. McClurg will oversee the VFX studio’s full range of visualization efforts, including comprehensive previz and postviz work and a virtual production department that ranks among the top in the industry. McClurg will leverage Digital Domain’s advanced tools, honed over 30 years created innovative and award-winning work, to offer clients a visual representation of what their final product will look like.
Along with overseeing Digital Domain’s current and upcoming visualization projects, McClurg will help streamline and incorporate new pipelines that take full advantage of the VFX studio’s bespoke toolsets. That includes its proprietary machine learning software and AI-driven creations. McClurg will also continue to lead the development of custom systems and processes created within game engines, designed to give filmmakers new ways to watch and edit effects-heavy scenes remotely from anywhere in the world.
McClurg’s near 15-year career includes stops at both The Third Floor and 20th Century Fox, and in 2014 he was hired by Pixomondo to help create and run its previz department. In 2019, McClurg joined Digital Domain as previz supervisor, overseeing several major features including Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and the Oscar-nominated Free Guy. He was also heavily involved in several episodic previz projects, including HBO’s The Last of Us and Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville.
Animoca Brands Japan, a strategic subsidiary of Web3 company Animoca Brands Corporation Limited, appointed Daisuke Iwase (岩瀬大輔) as its new CEO and representative director, succeeding Motoki Tani.
Iwase is the founder of KLKTN, one of the companies in Animoca Brands’ portfolio — a blockchain company that develops NFTs and digital collectibles with a focus on popular anime, manga, K-Pop and J-Pop. Prior to that, he was Group Chief Digital Officer for AIA Group and served on its Group Executive Committee. Before AIA, he co-founded and served as Representative Director and President of Lifenet Insurance Company. He holds a degree from Harvard Business School, was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and is an avid jazz pianist.
More Moves:
- Internet-first animation studio Invisible Universe announced that industry veterans Dan’l Hewitt and Joey Boukadakis have joined the company’s board of directors. Each brings industry knowledge and experience as creative and strategic business leaders across the digital entertainment landscape.
- DeAPlaneta Entertainment announced Lars Wagner will be DeAPlaneta Kids & Family’s Director of two key European territories for the company: GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) and CEE (Central & Eastern Europe).
- Emmy-winning VFX Supervisor David Ramos (Game of Thrones) has joined the Rodeo VFX. Originally from Spain, Ramos will be based at the studio’s Montreal HQ.
- Camp Lucky has promoted Jake Odgers to Designer/VFX Artist. His credits include\ projects for JCPenney, TGI Friday’s, Yeti, Mongoose and P.F. Chang’s.
- Canada’s Youth Media Alliance announced this year’s Emerging Talent Award (presented by Sinking Ship Ent.) will go to Joan Digba, a Nigerian-born, British-bred Canadian writer whose work spans kids’ animation to family drama. She has been an associate producer at Sinking Ship since 2020, and has written for Aunty B’s House, Beyond Black Beauty and Apple TV+’s new hybrid series Jane.
- Illumination Founder & CEO Chris Meledandri (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets) has been named the recipient of the 2023 CinemaCon Award of Excellence in Animation. The hitmaker producer will be honored with other award winners on April 27 during the Big Screen Achievement Awards in Las Vegas.
